Sudden Spasm
by clagjanet
Summary: Sundance AU #10, based on the S1 episode "Sudden Death". With her usual luck, Amanda runs into a plot twist she didn't see coming.
1. Ice, Ice, Baby

None of these characters belong to me; they remain the property of Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros.

* * *

Endless thanks to my betas for their corrections, suggestions and encouragement. All mistakes are my own.

This story should probably be subtitled "Everything I ever knew about football was learned from Wikipedia in ten minutes researching for this story and was then promptly forgotten." Fortunately, I managed to pretty much avoid football altogether in this one.

** smk **

* * *

Lee had forgotten what a breath-annihilating thing it was to let yourself be frozen like a Birdseye fish dinner.

It had been almost fifteen years since he'd last had to climb into a post-practice ice bath, but of course, he couldn't let the other players see that. His cover was to be one of the guys, just like them, recruited up from another league as a slight has-been, no competition for anyone – just a regular guy who had a slim hope of making it back into the big leagues.

With that in mind, he'd stepped into the bath like he was an old pro at it, lowering himself as quickly as possible, and feeling reasonably proud that he'd managed not to react. Or at least he thought he hadn't until the guy beside him – a giant named Bobby – burst out laughing at his expression.

"Never gets any easier, does it, Newcombe?"

Lee gave a forced laugh. Unlike him Bobby looked very comfortable - probably because he had the luxury of being in the far more welcoming hot water tub. "No, it sure doesn't," he agreed. "Guess I'd worry some if I ever got used to it."

Bobby reached over to grab a pack of cigarettes and light one up. "Reminds me of a joke I heard… this little kid keeps hitting himself in the head with a hammer and when his teacher asks why he says 'Well ma'am, it sure feels good when it stops!'." He carefully blew a lung full of smoke toward Lee, grinning when Lee had to blink and cough. "Where was it you said you played before this?"

"Up North. Canadian Football League," Lee replied.

"Argos? Ticats?"

Lee groaned inwardly. Figures he'd end up chatting to the one guy who knew anything about the CFL. "No, uh, Roughriders."

"Ottawa?"

"No, the other ones – Saskatchewan." Fortunately, Lee had spent enough time living on an airbase just south of there that the name rolled off his tongue easily.

Bobby gave a knowing chuckle. "Oh right – from Re-gi-na". He gave Lee a look. "Can't believe they actually pronounce it that way."

"Well you know the city motto," Lee tried to match the locker room tone. "Regina: rhymes with fun."

Bobby gave a hoot of laughter and reached over to punch Lee in the arm. "Good one, Rookie."

Only a quiet hiccupping sound gave Lee any warning before what little warm blood left in his body froze on the spot as a quiet voice in front of them, a voice he knew all too well, said "I don't think my editor or my son's second grade teacher would agree that those words rhyme."

Lee sank deeper into the bath, hoping the ice cold would counteract the fact that he was pretty sure he was blushing all over his body, but Bobby had no such scruples.

"Well, hello there, Little Lady! What's a pretty thang like you doing back here? Did Coach send us a little thank-you for all our hard work today?"

"No – I'm –hic- here to interview Mr. – hic - Newcombe for a piece in the Washington Blaze." Amanda's case of the hiccups could not have been better timed to make her sound nervous. Or maybe she was – Lee was still too embarrassed to look up at her and see.

Bobby's eyes lit up. "Well, since we're both here, you can get a two-for-one. Can't you?" He patted the side of the tub. "Now, how about you come a little closer and we can give you an in-depth interview?" He reached over and grabbed a handful of ice out of Lee's tub. "My momma always said there was nothing like an ice cube down the shirt to cure hiccups."

He could almost hear Amanda's internal dialogue as she tried to decide whether to go for the putdown or maintain her cover – although why she was here and why she had a cover was still a mystery – when she finally answered. "No, thank you, Mr. uhh…"

"Just call me Bobby," he leered. "Or 4-B, like the other girls do – stand for Big Bad Bobby. If you get to know me better, I'll tell you what the other B stands for."

Amanda's dignified response continued to be hampered by those hiccups. "No- hic – thank you – hic – I'm just – hic - here to speak to Mr. Newcombe."

"Well then, I'll just get out of your way." Bobby stood up without warning and reached past Amanda for a towel as she closed her eyes and pulled her sweater closer around her body. "Aw, I don't mind if you look. Might see something you like."

Lee braced himself to stand up to defend her dignity, even at the expense of his own, but before he could, Amanda's eyes opened and flicked down Bobby's body and back up to meet his eyes without any expression. "Well, I can certainly see that must have been an extremely cold bath."

Bobby's brows knit together in confusion. "I wasn't in the cold bath."

"Oh. My mistake," replied Amanda, gently, not letting her eyes leave his face.

Lee struggled to contain his snort of laughter, but Bobby swung around to glare at him anyway before stepping out of the bath and stalking away toward the showers.

"I am so sorry about that," Lee rushed to apologize in the silence that followed. "I – uh – well, I'm trying to fit in around here and you know what men are like in locker rooms... I mean, you don't obviously – but I couldn't really step in and interfere without... I would have though, you know that, don't you?" There was still no answer from a very red-faced Amanda as she stared into space above his head and he went on, "You're not mad, are you?"

"Don't be silly," said Amanda, suddenly letting out a long whoosh of air and plunking herself down on a bench, and pulling out a notebook. "I was just trying to hold my breath and see if that would help with these." The hiccup that followed said it hadn't. "I have – hic - two boys, an ex-husband and a history of college cheerleading – hic - during the 1970s when we couldn't get through a game without a streaker or two. Believe me, 4-B there wouldn't even rate in the Top 10. Hic"

"So if you're not nervous, how come you have the hiccups?" Lee asked.

"Oh, it's a reaction I have to some aftershaves," she explained. "Cheap ones, usually – somebody out there is probably using some drugstore copy of Hai Karate."

"I guess I should be thankful you're not allergic to Stetson," Lee quipped, provoking a gurgle of laughter out of her.

"No, definitely not," she agreed. "Okay, so Mr. Melrose said I had to come find you and get any information you had about that player from Liberia…No that's not right… Luxembourg?" She began flipping through her notes. "Although I'm sure I don't why you can't just pick up and phone him but you guys always seem to have your reasons, and he seemed to think that my little bit of work on the college paper would make it easy for me to pretend like I belong here, and I suppose that's true. I mean, can you imagine if he'd sent Francine into a locker room like this? She'd probably have done something unfortunate to Bobby-"

"Amanda?" Lee interrupted her. "I'm glad you're here and I'll be happy to give you all the information Billy wants and get you out of here as fast as I can, but, I, uh, do have to get out of this bath before I freeze to death, so if you could, um…" he made a twirling motion with his finger.

Amanda's eyes went wide and her gaze dropped automatically to his bare chest before coming straight back up to look him in the eye. To Lee's amusement, the same Amanda who had just cut Bobby down to size without even a flicker of embarrassment, was now flushed scarlet and staring at him like a deer in headlights.

"Oh! Right!" Amanda immediately swung around on the bench to face the other way. "So, uh, Bela. Spivak. Luxembourg…"

"Pravik. From Liechtenstein," Lee corrected her.

"Right, Liechtenstein."

She could hear Lee levering himself out of the water and closed her eyes, determined that she wasn't going to picture _that_ …

"Oh, and Amanda?"

"Yes?" She resisted the temptation to turn around in response.

"Surprise!"

A second later, a chunk of ice slid down her back, sending her to her feet with a screech. She whirled to yell and found herself facing a dripping wet Lee, towel slung around his waist, and an expression of pure mischief on his face.

"Bet Bobby was right about that curing your hiccups," he grinned.

"Ooooh, yooooouuu!" Amanda was still twisting, scrambling to pull at her shirttail so that she could get the ice out.

"Hang on, hold still," Lee chuckled, taking pity on her at last and flicking it out from where it had gotten stuck in her waistband.

"I'll get you back for that," laughed Amanda, straightening her clothes.

"I'm sure you will," he agreed. "Now how about waiting for me out there while I get dressed?"

"Oh right, sure," she replied, ducking her head and blushing. "I'll, uh, get out of your way."

Lee emerged a few minutes later to find Amanda deep in conversation with Bela – who was gazing up at her worshipfully as if he'd never talked to a woman before. It was possible he hadn't, Lee reflected. The language barrier and the training camp rules very likely did mean he hadn't spoken to a woman since he'd arrived in America. Unlike her body language with Bobby, Amanda was already relaxed and smiling with the smaller player – like Lee, she had obviously immediately recognized him as someone who wouldn't hurt a fly.

Bela caught sight of him and waved him over excitedly, exclaiming in his lightly accented English, "San-day – this is Ah-man-da Keene. She is from newspaper!"

"Yes, we just met," replied Lee genially.

"She is very pretty, no?" said Bela.

"Very pretty, yes," agreed Lee, as Amanda ducked her head and blushed again.

"Do you like the bowling?" asked Bela, hopefully.

"Bowling?" repeated Amanda.

"Yes, yes – the bowling with the ball and the knocking down," said Bela, making the motions of throwing a bowling ball. "Maybe I could take you on real American date? With the bowling and the pizza?"

"Oh, I don't know…" Amanda looked at Lee helplessly.

"Oh, I see," said Bela, catching the glance. "I am too short. At home, in Liechtenstein, I am not so short but here in America, everyone is giants."

"Oh no, no," said Amanda. "It's not that – it's just I'm, uh…"

"A career woman," said Lee, helpfully. "No time to play, right, Ms. Keene? Especially when you're writing stories about us – that would be a conflict of interest, wouldn't it?" Amanda nodded, grateful for his interruption. "And besides, Bela, you can't go asking women out when you know we can't break training. You wouldn't even have time for one frame before you had to be back for curfew."

"Oh. That is true," agreed Bela with a downcast look. He squared his shoulders and looked at Amanda again. "But maybe you could come to our game on Sunday? I can get you tickets – very good tickets, I promise?"

"Well, uh, my boys would enjoy seeing a game..." said Amanda.

"Your boys? You have boyfriends?" asked Bela.

"No, oh no," stammered Amanda. "No boyfriends – I have sons, Phillip and Jamie – they're eight and ten – they love sports. All sports. Especially football."

"Sons? So you have husband?" asked Bela, looking more and more downcast.

"No, no husband. Not anymore," Amanda threw another wild glance for help at Lee. "No boyfriends, no husbands, just boys. Small boys." She waved her hand at waist height as if she could conjure up Phillip and Jamie on the spot. "And my mother – she lives with me."

"You keep your mother in your home? This is very good," said Bela with a broad smile. "You must be very good daughter to keep your mother at home. Is she very… _verkalkt_? Hmm, I do not know the English word."

Lee barely managed to turn his laughter into a coughing fit. Amanda turned to look at him suspiciously as he attempted to retrieve an innocent expression, but there was no way on earth he was going to tell her Bela had just inquired into her mother's state of senility. Before she could press for an explanation, Bela caught sight of something over Amanda's shoulder and paled.

"I must go," he said, turning abruptly and darting off toward the exit of the locker room.

Lee and Amanda turned to see what he'd been looking at, but could see nothing beyond a few lingering players and two men in loud checked jackets who were making their way toward the same door Bela had just vanished out of, pushing past the pair as they did so.

"I bet they're not reporters," said Amanda. "And if they are, Bela obviously doesn't want to give them an interview. Hic." She frowned, annoyed that the hiccups were back. "Unless he's –hic- just allergic to their cheap cologne too."

"Well, I'm going to go follow them and find out," said Lee in a grim voice. "If those guys are associated with Ernst Laszlo, Bela could be in a whole lot of trouble." He headed for the door, then paused and looked back. "Come find me at the players' dorm later- say around 10? It's past curfew then and I'll be able to have a look around so I might have information to pass to Billy by then."

"Okay. Hic." Amanda waved him off. "But go make sure Bela's okay first."

Lee strode toward the door, scooping up an abandoned football as he went, then pausing at the exit. "Amanda? Surprise!" He pitched the football at her suddenly, making her squeak, even as she nabbed it out of the air.

"What was that for?" she admonished him.

"Bet that stopped your hiccups," he grinned and vanished out the door.


	2. Friends in Low Places

Lee could see the two men were still in the parking lot, looking around but Bela was nowhere in sight. One of them caught sight of Lee watching and nudged his companion, jerking his head toward Lee.

"Can I help you guys?" called Lee. "Because this is a closed camp and you're not supposed to be back here."

The two men exchanged a look, before sauntering over to where he was standing, arms crossed. His nose wrinkled slightly as the cloud of cheap men's cologne hit him again – it was strong enough to fell a moose but not enough to cover the acrid body odor of the man wearing it.

 _No wonder this stuff gives Amanda the hiccups – how does Shorty here even breathe wearing it?_

"Yeah, you might be able to help us," the first one said, answering Lee's pointed question. "You're the new strong safety, right? Newcombe?"

"Yeah, that's right," replied Lee. "What's it to you?"

Another look between the men.

"Well, we have someone who might like to meet you. A friend of Pravik's."

"Pravik has friends?" Lee lifted a brow. "I thought he only just got stateside? How has he had time to make friends?"

"Well, Mr. Price has a way of making friends with people quickly," smirked the second guy. "And it's good to be his friend, if you know what I mean."

"No, I'm afraid I don't," said Lee in a pleasant tone. "Why don't you explain it to me?"

"Tell you what, Big Guy – we'll see if Mr. Price has any openings for new friends and get back to youse on that."

"You do that," Lee replied.

The first man nudged his companion and Lee turned his head to see that they were being watched from a nearby window by the team owner, John Crandall, who did not look at all pleased.

"Time to go," he muttered. "We'll talk to you later, Newcombe. And if you see Pravik? Tell him we came by."

Lee watched them walk away; they were doing their best to look casual but Lee noticed the way they kept giving that window quick glances as if they were afraid of being recognized.

"So who the hell is Price?" he murmured under his breath. "And what the hell has Bela got himself into?"

A rap at the window got his attention; he looked up to see the Crandall crooking a finger at him.

A few moments later, Lee was in the doorway of the owner's office, an unusual occurrence for a simple player on a team, but Crandall waved him in and gestured for him to sit in the chair opposite.

"What did those guys want with you?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"Not sure they wanted anything with me," Lee lied easily. "They said they were lost, but I'm not sure how they managed to find their way in and not out again."

"I've noticed them here before," growled Crandall. "I don't like the looks of them – and I don't like the looks of you being so friendly with them."

"Well, I'd never met them until a few minutes ago," said Lee. "Noticed them skulking outside and came out to warn them off." He decided it would do no one any good to mention that they'd been looking for Pravik.

Crandall eyed him for a few seconds, clearly feeling that Lee was holding out on him. "You're the new guy, right? Newcombe?"

"Yes Sir – strong safety," replied Lee.

"Bateman brought you in, didn't he?"

Bateman was the assistant coach with a brother in State Department – he'd been the person who'd approached them on Pravik's behalf.

"Yes Sir, that's right."

"From Canada?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes, Sir. I played in the CFL, but I'm American."

Crandall leaned forward, fingers steepled in front of him as he leaned on the desk. "Now you see, I think that's odd, because the CFL doesn't have strong safeties, do they?"

Lee paused and regrouped. "No, Sir, they don't," he admitted. "They call them defensive halfbacks. But it pretty much comes down to the same thing." He gave Crandall a wide grin that he hoped would make him look guileless. It didn't work.

"You're a bit of a pretty boy, aren't you?" growled Crandall. "Bet the ladies like you."

"Some of them, yep."

"Not sure I should be trusting my defense with a guy who looks like he'd try to do anything to keep looking pretty." Crandall leaned ever further forward. "You know, Coach Leopold and I agree on one thing – you gotta stick 'em with the face."

"Absolutely right, Sir," said Lee.

"And from what I've seen in practice, you aren't doing much of that."

"Well, I'm just getting to know the other players, Sir – you know, hang back and study their weaknesses, that kind of thing."

Crandall eyed him with a frown. "Shouldn't you be doing that to other teams? Not your own?"

"Well, I will, Sir, but for now, I want to know where there might be gaps in our team's lines so that I can step in to make up for it during a play."

"Huh." Crandall leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar. "A pretty boy with a bum knee and you think too much. Not sure this is going to work out, Newcombe."

"Well, maybe you'll change your mind when you see what I can do in a game, Sir" said Lee putting on his best good-ole-boy voice.

"We'll see," said Crandall flatly. "Now get out of my office and back on the field."

"Yes Sir!" Lee shot to his feet and escaped while he could.


	3. The Siren Call of Danger and Intrigue

"Amanda? Are you out there?" Lee peered into the darkness, trying to spot her.

She immediately popped into view, startling him. "Of course, I'm out here!"

"Jeez, you don't have to jump out at a guy! A simple 'hello' would have been fine," he grumbled.

"Well, I thought you might have hiccups," she answered tartly, sticking her tongue out at him as she crossed her arms and leaned against the window frame comfortably. "And I know you love surprises."

"Well, that would have stopped them," he agreed, with a grin. "Okay, I can't stay here long – they're going to be doing a room check any second, but I've got some stuff for you to get to Billy." He handed her a miniature roll of film. "Tell him to get this developed - I found something in Crandall's office and I want our guys to look it over for me."

"What is it?" she asked, inspecting it for a moment before carefully putting it in her purse.

"It's just a play from the playbook. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about this one that gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"Just a play?" Amanda repeated dubiously. "I thought we were trying to stop an assassin?"

"I know, I know, it doesn't make much sense – but like I said, there's something off about it – and if you were going to hide something in code in the middle of a football team, wouldn't you make it something no one would notice?"

"Well, of course I would," replied Amanda. "You're probably right – I should know by now to trust your weird feelings." She looked him over critically. "Speaking of which – how are you feeling? It looked like you were getting hit pretty hard out there today."

"Oh, I'm fine," Lee waved off her concern, then winced and grimaced as his shoulder twinged with pain from the movement. "I'm having a great time," he added as she gave him a pointed look. "This is every little boy's dream after all."

"Well, all those other little boys in the locker room looked a lot younger than you. And bigger," Amanda said worriedly. "Are you sure this was a good idea? Why couldn't you just have come in as a coach or an equipment manager or something?"

"It's fine, Amanda – I'm hardly an old man just yet," he grumbled, inwardly annoyed that it hadn't occurred to either him or Billy that both of those covers would actually have been a much better idea. He wouldn't be in so much pain and he would have had a lot more freedom to move around. "It's just a couple of days – what could go wrong?"

Amanda opened her mouth – no doubt to come up with a litany of things that would meet that requirement – when she was stopped by the sound of a bellowing voice.

"Newcombe! Where the hell are you and why aren't you in your bunk?"

"Gotta go!" said Lee. "Get outta sight and I'll see you tomorrow for that interview, okay?"

Amanda nodded and disappeared from the window as quickly as she'd appeared.

"I'm right here, Coach!" said Lee cheerfully as the man walked around the corner. "Just hitting the head one more time before lights out."

"Hmph," said the coach, not looking entirely like he believed him. "Well, it's past lights out now – unless you're still in the Canadian time zone?" he jeered.

"Canada isn't in -" Lee started to say before deciding silence was the better part of valor. "See you in the morning, Coach." He slipped past him and back to his room.

It couldn't have been more than five minutes later that he became aware of the sounds of sirens. He got up to close the window to shut out the sound but as he did so, he realized they were getting closer. Too close, in fact – he could see the reflection of the flashing lights now as they approached the building he was in.

 _Oh God, Amanda_. He couldn't even tell why it was his first thought, but once it was there, he couldn't shake it. He had just stepped out of his room, intending to go find out what was going on when the coach came barreling back around the corner.

"Back to bed, Newcombe! I'm sure it's nothing to do with you!"

"But Coach…" More heads were popping out of doors now as the other players were woken by the cacophony outside.

"We don't break training for nothin'!" growled Leopold. "Back in your rooms!"

One by one, the players did as they were told, including Lee, who lingered by his slightly cracked-open door, watching the coach. The moment, Leopold was out of sight, Lee was back out in the hallway, tugging the fire alarm. As the ear-splitting ringing began, almost instantly, every door was open again and all the players poured into the hallway.

"Must be a fire!" yelled Lee. "Everybody out!"

Inserting himself into the middle of the group, Lee herded everyone out the front doors, to find the sirens and flashing lights belonged to several police cars, and now, additionally, an ambulance wailing its way up the driveway.

"I thought I told you all to stay inside!" yelled the coach.

"Fire alarm went off," explained Big Phil. He looked around in confusion. "But I don't see no fire."

"That's because there isn't a fire," said Leopold through gritted teeth. "At least, I don't think so. I swear – if this is a stunt by the opposition to throw us off our training…"

Lee had been moving slowly around the group, taking advantage of the lights and confusion to get closer to the action. Sure enough, there in the middle of it all was Amanda. She looked close to tears and her frantic hand motions said she was trying to explain something to the police officer standing in front of her. With a quick check over his shoulder to make sure the coaches weren't paying attention, Lee sidled over to where she was standing.

"You all right there, Mrs. Keene?" he asked and watched as Amanda whirled around, visibly just catching herself from throwing herself at him in relief.

"Oh! Mr. Newcombe! I-I-I don't know what happened! I just… just…" she stopped and gulped. "I was backing up and I… I…"

"She ran a guy over," said the officer helpfully.

"You what?!" Lee exclaimed before he could stop himself.

"I know! I know!" Amanda said wretchedly. "But it wasn't my fault! I was just backing up out of the parking space and I'd checked my mirrors and done my shoulder checks – I swear!" She looked at the police officer who was nodding disbelievingly. "And he just came out of nowhere and stepped behind my car and I didn't see him the dark and there was this awful sound..." she petered off and it took everything Lee had not to pull her into his arms to comfort her. He settled for a firm grip on her shoulder.

"Well then he shoulda seen your backup lights, right Officer?" he cocked an eye at the policeman. "And I'm sure he'll be fine, won't he?"

"Probably," agreed the policeman. "I think he broke a few bones but he'll live."

"Well, there you go," said Lee, tightening his grip until she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Not your fault and he'll be fine." The ambulance crew was busy loading up the victim and Lee suddenly had an idea. "Look, why don't we go over and you can see for yourself?"

Amanda nodded gratefully and Lee's hand slid down to her elbow as he steered her over to the gurney.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed to the swarthy man as soon as they were within range. "But I just didn't see you in the dark with your black clothes on – if you need anything, you be sure to let me know – I'm sure my insurance will cover this…" she was babbling even as Lee stiffened in recognition at the man glaring up at her.

"What hospital are you taking him to?" he asked the paramedic. "So she can, y'know, send flowers or something."

"Memorial," answered the paramedic.

"Good, good. Now Mrs. Keene, how about you let these nice men take him to hospital and you can check on him later?" His iron grip on Amanda's elbow meant she had to follow him whether she wanted to or not.

"Oh Lee!" she wailed when they were far enough away from everyone. "He came out of nowhere! You know how careful I am! I've never even hit a squirrel let alone a whole person!"

"Well, that sure as hell wasn't a squirrel," he answered. "I'm pretty certain you just ran over Ernst Laszlo!"

"I… what? Who?" she asked, still gulping in breath.

"The guy we're here to catch," said Lee gleefully. "I don't know how you did it, but based on the police sketch Bela did for us, it looks like you managed to run over the one guy in Washington we needed to incapacitate!"

"I did?" Amanda's eyes were wide with disbelief, but at least she'd stopped crying.

"You did," he confirmed, pulling her out of sight behind a car where he could finally hug her. "He must have been here looking for Pravik. I'm going to go call Billy and let him know he's all trussed up and headed for Memorial Hospital."

"What should I do?" asked Amanda. "My car…" she gestured helplessly. "Is evidence."

"Ah, okay. Tell you what – you stay here and keep giving your statement for now and I'll go call Billy and grab my badge and come back and spring you – and your car. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded, a small smile finally in her face.

"Come on, I'll walk back with you," he led her back around the car and toward the policeman who was studying her back bumper and making notes.

"I'll be right back," Lee promised as he turned away. Something in the dark glinted and caught his eye. "What is that under your car?" he asked, pointing to it. He crouched down and peered into the shadows. "Um, Officer? Do you have a flashlight? I think there's something you should see here."

The policeman pulled out his flashlight and crouched down, shining it where Lee was pointing. "Holy Cow! Is that a gun?" He grabbed a pencil from his shirt pocket and slid it through the trigger guard to lift it up. "Holy Cow! It is!" he looked up at Amanda. "Geez, Mrs. King, I think that guy might have been trying to mug you!"

 _Mug her? With a Walther PPK? I don't think so_ thought Lee. "Well there you go, Ma'am," he said out loud. "That guy deserved running over."

Amanda pulled her gaze from the gun to Lee's face and nodded. "Oh my gosh," she said faintly.

"I'm just going to go check on my friends," said Lee in a meaningful tone. "Make sure everyone is okay and that he didn't _mug_ anyone else, y'know?" Amanda nodded. "You stay _right here_ with the police, okay? And then I'll be right back to get you into a cab home, okay? " He waited for her to nod again before turning to jog back to the group of players.

 _If Laszlo was coming after Amanda, that meant she's been made – and in all likelihood, so have I. Time to get everyone out of here._

"Anybody seen Pravik?" he asked, scanning the crowd. "Didn't he come out when the alarm went off?"

"Yeah, he's over there," said Bobby, waving over to where Bela was sitting in the front seat of a police car with another officer.

Lee strode over and leaned in the window. "You okay there, Bela?" he asked with relief.

"Oh yes, San-day! I am learning all about American police cars! Look! This is the button for the siren!" He pushed something on the dash and the night air filled with the whoop-whoop of the siren. "And this is lights!" The flashing lights on top of the car started to spin. "Is just like in movies!" he beamed.

"That's great, Bela," Lee grinned. "But uh, how about you come inside with me before Coach starts looking for us?"

"Oh yes! Good idea!" The bubbly kicker climbed out of the car and started to follow Lee back to the dorm building- until Lee pulled him aside and began to talk urgently. "Pravik – I think the guy who got hit by the car was Ernst Laszlo – and we need you to go to the hospital and identify him for sure."

"You need me to do what?" asked Bela. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because you're the only one who can – oh!" Lee stopped and shook his head. "Sorry, Bela – I forgot you didn't know. I'm with the Agency and I was sent here to look after you and find Laszlo."

You are American spy?" said Bela in a tone of wonder. "Like James Bond?"

"Well we don't like … you know what? Yes, I'm a spy but for the good guys, and we need to get you out of here and somewhere you can identify him for us. And then somewhere safe where his friends can't find you again."

"Yes, yes, I am happy to do so!" exclaimed Bela. "Then, once you catch those other men, I will be safe and can play the American football!"

"The other men?" asked Lee, heart sinking. "Do you mean those two guys I saw following you today? So they do work with Laszlo?"

"I think so, yes," confirmed Bela. "They keep coming to me and saying I will lose everything and to stay quiet. That a kicker with no feet will not be a kicker for long." He sighed, deeply. "I have kept quiet but they still follow me everywhere."

Lee thought for a moment. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go get my ID and put you and Amanda in a cab to the hospital while I call my boss. She'll keep an eye on you until he can get there to take you to a safe house after you tell us if that's really Laszlo, okay?"

"Amanda? You mean the nice reporter lady? She is spy too?"

"Oh no, she is not a spy, she is… well, she's kind of a spy helper," said Lee.

"She must be very brave – just like American women in movies, yes?"

"Yes," agreed Lee. "She is definitely very brave – and she will take care of you until my boss can get there."

"You are not coming?"

"Not right away. I need to go see what Crandall is up to – or what he does when he hears Laszlo is out of commission. He might lead us right to those other guys."

"Wowee," said Bela in admiring tones. "This is also just like the movies! Handsome spy, lovely lady and now the big chase!"

"You bet," grinned Lee. "Except with no chase. But the good guys always win in the movies, right?"

"You bet!" repeated Bela, bouncing on his toes.

Lee ran inside to grab his ID. A quick call to Billy with this latest twist, then a call for a cab and he was back out to collect Bela and Amanda about ten minutes later. The two of them were huddled together chatting by a police car, with identical looks of relief at his reappearance.

"Lee, Bela says those other men might be assassins too?" Amanda said worriedly. "Are you really going after them by yourself? I don't think that's a good idea. I should stay-"

"No, no," he soothed her. "I'm just going to go keep an eye on Crandall and make sure he isn't involved in this whole thing more than we think. Francine will be along to join me in a bit as backup and Billy is going to meet you two at the hospital and then make sure you both get home. Well, Amanda will go home, Bela, we'll have to find you a safe house."

"This is ah-ma-zing!" said Bela cheerfully. "Now I am super secret witness going to safe house!"

"Uh yeah, sure," Lee agreed with bemusement. "Okay, here's your cab." He pulled Amanda aside. "Make sure he just gets to the hospital and wait for Billy in the front lobby. Pravik's so excited about being in a movie plot, I wouldn't put it past him to do something heroic like try to interrogate Laszlo." He paused and looked at Amanda and sighed. "Oh God – look who I'm telling. Look, Amanda, please, _please -_ just keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble and don't do anything you know you'd hate to explain to me later, okay? Can you do that?"

"Of course, I can do that," answered Amanda looking slightly affronted. "I don't always get into trouble."

"Amanda," Lee sighed again. "You just ran over the prime suspect in our case by accident and managed to narrowly prevent an international incident."

"Exactly!" she responded triumphantly. "What else could possibly happen in one night?"

Lee rubbed his hand over his face. "I can't even imagine." He led her to the cab, where Bela was already seated inside, waiting. "Hospital. Billy. Home. Got it?" Lee said pointedly emphasizing each word with his finger.

"Got it." She climbed into the cab and as Lee watched it drive away, Coach Leopold appeared at his elbow.

"Where in the Sam Hill is Pravik going?" he bellowed. "He can't just leave training camp without my say so!"

"That reporter from the Blaze is just taking him to get his photo taken for the article," lied Lee. "She's going to do up a big piece for the paper about how he's adjusting to life in America."

"At this time of night?" asked Leopold incredulously.

"Gotta meet the deadline, I guess."

"Well, he better be back and rested up for tomorrow," groused the coach. "Mr. Crandall wants him in the field for tomorrow's practice. He's got a VIP coming or something – wants to show off his new toy."

"I'm sure that's not going to be a problem," said Lee, still watching the cab. To his utter disbelief, as it slowed and came to a stop at the end of the driveway, two figures stepped out of the shadows and approached it.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO!" he yelled as he began to run. As he watched, one of the shadowy figures yanked the driver out of the cab and slid behind the driver's seat while the other climbed in from the other side, pointing a gun at Bela and Amanda as they sat in the back seat. The cab turned out onto the street and Lee changed tack, racing across the lawn trying to intercept it. When it slowed at the next corner, he put on a burst of speed and managed to jump on the hood before it could pick up speed again.

"Federal agent!" he yelled through the windshield. "Stop the car!"

The thug driving hit the brakes and Lee went flying, rolling along the pavement until his head hit a curb and everything went black.


	4. Look Ma, No Hands!

"Lee? Lee, wake up, please wake up."

He could hear the fear in her voice and struggled to open his eyes.

"Amanda?"

"Oh thank goodness!" she gasped. "You've been out for so long, I thought…" He could hear the squeak of imminent tears in her voice - a sound he hated and even more, hated being the cause.

"Don't cry." He tried to get up but couldn't seem to get his body to respond. "I'm fine. I just… okay, I can't move, why the hell can't I move?" He forced his eyes open and squinted at her, the light hurting his eyes. "Are you wearing..?"

"A straitjacket? Yes," sighed Amanda. "And so are you."

"Why?" It seemed important to know that, as if it would help – although at least it did explain why he was having trouble moving. He gave a heave to sit up, blinking to try and ease the dizziness and looked down at his bizarre attire, then around the squalid office. Amanda was sitting opposite him, leaning forward studying him worriedly. "And where the hell are we?"

"In a bar. Well, not in a bar. In the back room of a bar," she started to ramble. "And I have no idea why Mr. Price put us in these." She made a motion that suggested she was trying to shrug inside the jacket. "You'd think ropes would be simpler."

"We find the jackets leave less marks than ropes do when we need to be, shall we say, convincing," said a new voice.

Lee and Amanda turned to stare at the man in the doorway. Price had the same look as his henchmen, but his suit was slightly better quality. The two goons they'd seen in the locker room moved into the room and ranged themselves against the wall.

"And what exactly would we need convincing of, Mr. Price?" asked Lee, standing up to get between them and Amanda.

"Well in this case, fortunately, it's not you that needs convincing," answered the man suavely, as he walked toward them. "It's our mutual friend, Mr. Pravik."

"And what does he need convincing of?" pressed Lee. "We already have Laszlo in custody – so whatever you have planned for Liechtenstein isn't going to happen now."

"Liechtenstein?" repeated their captor. "Is he that Jewish kid who plays offense for the Giants?"

"No – it's a country." Lee looked around and realized for the first time that Bela was nowhere to be seen. "What have you done with Pravik?"

"He's been returned to training camp, of course," said Price with a surprised look. "He's no use to me if he's not in tomorrow's game, after all."

"Why?" asked Amanda. "Hic!" Lee turned around to glare at her as she shrugged helplessly – too much of the goon's cologne in a small room had begun its work again.

"Because I need him to follow up on our little agreement that he not complete any kicks," answered Price. "I have a certain amount of money that is, shall we say, invested in the Patriots not winning that game."

Lee stared at him, nonplussed. "Wait a minute – you're just a bookie?"

"Actually we don't really like that word," Price said with a pained look. "I prefer to be called a businessman."

"Uh huh," answered Lee sarcastically. "And your business is fixing games?"

"I don't fix games," smiled Price. "I simply arrange for some people to be aware that it would be in everyone's best interest if the results happen to be ones I like."

"So why are we still here?" asked Amanda. "If Bela is going to – hic! - throw the game for you, why do you still need us?"

"Because he likes you," explained Price, spreading his hands as if that explained everything. "He was overheard asking you out and if he was willing to sneak away from camp last night to go out with you, then obviously he likes you enough to want you to stay safe until the game is over."

"But we weren't going on a date!" said Amanda. "We were going to-"

"The cops," Lee interrupted her. "They were heading to the police to tell them everything about what you've been doing. So how long do you figure Pravik will keep quiet if he thinks you're going to hurt us? Or him? Huh? They're probably surrounding this place, right now!"

Price glared at them, then looked over at his goons. "Go check outside and make sure it's clear. If it is, we're going to need to go keep an eye on our investment."

"What about us?" asked Amanda. "You can't keep us here until tomorrow – hic! - and Lee's right, Bela has probably already told someone we're here."

"You're probably right," said Price with a leer. "So I guess I shouldn't bother keeping you around?" He pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket and aimed it at her.

"No!" Lee yelled, shouldering her aside and blocking her with his body.

"Now, now, calm down," said Price with a sarcastic smile. "I would never harm a lady – it's bad for business." He flipped the gun so that Lee could see it. "See? It's not even loaded." He smirked at Amanda as she peered fearfully around Lee. "But I bet that stopped your hiccups." He jerked his head toward the sofa as he put his gun away. "Pravik saw the gun too, so I'm pretty certain he's not going to do anything that might get you in trouble. But just in case, you two can stay here until we're sure Pravik does as he's told."

The goons came toward them menacingly but Lee and Amanda backed up obediently and sat down on the sofa before they could get close.

"Very smart," smiled Price. "Now you two just relax. We'll be back before you know it."

The three men left the office, pulling the door closed behind them. The moment they were out of earshot, Lee was on his feet, striding around to look for an escape route.

"Well, he was right about the hiccups cure," commented Amanda, now also on her feet. "What about the phone?"

Lee knocked the receiver off the cradle and lowered his head to the desk. "Dead," he announced. "They must have unplugged it when they left to take Bela back to camp."

"Or Mr. Price just doesn't pay his bills," Amanda remarked. "He seems like a guy who's always a little short of money."

"Could be that too," agreed Lee, shooting her a quick grin. "So what do you think? Will Bela have tried to tell someone we're here?"

"He was pretty frightened when they took him away," replied Amanda thoughtfully. "And if he still thinks Price is part of Laszlo's plan, he might be too scared to do anything except what they tell him."

"Great," answered Lee as he peered out the window, huffing with frustration at the sight of the iron bars on them and the deserted parking lot beyond.

"On the other hand, he knows you're an agent and he was pretty excited about being in a big American spy story, so he might try to be heroic," she added.

"That's true," Lee nodded. "In the movies, the plucky sidekick would probably do something to save the day. He might go for that."

Amanda gave a laugh and Lee glanced over to see what had amused her.

"Sorry," she apologized. "It's just that I'm usually the plucky sidekick, so if Bela is doing that, what am I now?"

"The smart but sexy Bond girl?" chuckled Lee.

"Oh sure – if I got a boob job," snorted Amanda. "Maybe I'm the comic relief."

"Nah – you're too pretty for that," said Lee, as he lay on the floor and attempted to grip the door handle with his feet. "You'll have to be the unlikely mismatched partner who keeps the hero out of trouble."

"Well, I'm not your partner and I'm usually the one getting you _into_ trouble, not out of it," sighed Amanda.

"No, not usually," said Lee. "I think we're about even on that front."

"Really, Butch?" Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Because here we are with you flat on the floor again."

"True," he said, growling with annoyance as his foot slipped off the shiny knob again. "But think of all the times I've dragged you into something instead of the other way around."

"So we're not really mismatched at all?" dimpled Amanda.

"I guess not," Lee agreed with a grin. "Maybe we're just the troublesome duo who drive their boss crazy with their antics. You know Billy would agree with that." He gave a grunt and twisted his feet again. "Ah ha! Got it!" he crowed in triumph as the door opened.

He rolled and scrambled back to his feet, grinning with pleasure at his success.

"Are you going to have to do that at every door?" Amanda asked. "This could take forever."

"No, because there has to be a fire exit somewhere that we can just push open," Lee replied. "Now, come-" He stopped dead and whirled around, forcing Amanda back into the room as he looked around desperately.

"What are you doing?"

"Get in the closet. Now" Lee hissed the order, giving her a little shove with his shoulder as he did so.

"What? Why?" asked Amanda in confusion, even as she obeyed. "I thought we were trying to get out of here!"

"We are – but Price's goons are back! And if they've decided to come back for us – it'll be better if they think we're already gone."

"Oh!" she squeaked as she made room for him to step into the closet after her. He snagged the door with his foot and drew it almost closed. He couldn't shut it because then they'd be trapped, but he had to hope the men didn't notice the hiding spot in their inevitable fury at finding them gone.

"Quiet," he whispered. "We need them to think we've escaped."

Amanda nodded, shrinking back against the wall as if she was trying to be invisible. Lee strained to listen, hearing the men enter the room, then the furious cry as their absence was discovered.

"Well they can't have gotten far," one of them was saying. "They're wearing straitjackets, for crying out loud."

"Unless someone found them – they could be halfway to the cops by now."

"Or the cops could be halfway here, like they said."

"In which case, we need to get out of here."

"Yeah, but we gotta grab the books first – if the cops come through here and find Price's books, he's going to have a much bigger problem than the cops."

"Yeah."

There was the sudden scrambling sound as the two men began throwing incriminating paperwork into boxes in preparation for running. Lee breathed a sigh of relief – they weren't going to be looking for them if they were worried about getting caught themselves.

It was an instant later that he realized the fatal error he'd made in choosing their hiding spot – not that he'd really had any choice in the matter.

"Hic!"

 _Seriously? Again?_

He turned his head to meet Amanda's eyes. She was already holding her breath, trying to calm them but as the look of panic started over her face, he realized they were in a closet – a closet which was full of jackets saturated with that cheap cologne that made stopping her attack of hiccups an impossibility.

She'd finally had to release her breath and they stared at each other in the dim light. Now it was Lee holding his breath to see if they'd been heard or if she'd been able to get them under control.

"Hic!"

"Did you hear something?"

 _Oh no…_

"What kind of something?"

"I don't know – just a noise."

"Maybe those two are still here somewhere."

Lee's heart plummeted. They were going to come looking.

"What direction did it come from?"

"I don't know, just somewhere."

"Hic!"

"Yeah, now I hear it – what was that?"

Amanda was pushing against the back wall of the closet as if she could hide behind the hanging coats – which would have been a great idea if it wasn't the coats that were causing their current predicament.

Lee could hear the men heading out the office door and prayed that they'd be back out of earshot before the next hiccup hit. But then he heard it, the telltale intake of breath that signalled the next one – the one that would expose them. With no thought but to silence her, Lee did the only thing he could think of. Stepping further into the closet, he crowded Amanda hard against the wall and covered her mouth with his own.

He wasn't sure her surprised squeak was any quieter than the hiccup would have been. "Don't move," he breathed out against her lips, and while she didn't relax exactly, she did stop struggling. He lifted his head and turned it slightly, to try and listen to what was going on outside. He felt her brace herself and turned back quickly to silence the next hiccup.

This time there was no surprised squeak, or struggle, Amanda simply leaned back against the wall, letting him muffle her badly behaved diaphragm. He could feel her heart thudding though, and pressed a bit closer as if he could calm her with a straitjacketed facsimile of a hug and softened his mouth to try and encourage her to breathe. There was a pause and then she relaxed and it was something in that trust, something in the way his own heart sped up to match hers… something in the way she breathed out a quiet sigh and leaned into him… he just couldn't help it, what had started as simply a way to silence her hiccups turned into a kiss. He was kissing Amanda… and that should have been a really terrible idea except… she was kissing him back. He lifted his hands to cup her face, groaning in frustration when he remembered he was in a damn straitjacket.

Amanda knew this was crazy, knew it was probably just the adrenaline talking in both of them, but she was also a woman, and it wasn't like she hadn't noticed from day one that Lee was an almost impossibly attractive man. She'd been happy with their friendship, been happy to be someone he could depend on, knowing that was a two-way street. But she'd also be lying if she didn't admit that it had crossed her mind to wonder what this would be like – and now that she was in the middle of it, the answer was… overwhelming. She reached to bring him closer... ugh! Stupid straitjacket!

Lee gave off a noise of frustration that echoed her own, then tugged gently at her lower lip, encouraging her to open her lips and she complied with a happy hum, feeling him smile against her mouth and found herself wishing she could see the dimples she knew must be showing, but knowing that she'd have to stop kissing him to do that and right now… that seemed like a really terrible idea.

Lost in their kiss, they were jerked back to reality by the sound of the office door slamming behind the two men as they left. Lee pulled his head back from hers but only by a fraction as they both strained to listen for any other sounds of life. When all they could hear was the fading footsteps of the pair heading down the hall, Amanda fully expected Lee to move backward immediately, but he didn't. Instead she lifted her eyes to see him gazing at her with a slightly stunned expression. Her breath caught and she swallowed, uncertain what he was thinking. Slowly, oh so slowly, Lee started to smile as he looked down at her, eyes bright and _oh yes_ … those dimples creasing his cheeks. His head tilted down again and as her eyes closed, she felt his lips trace along her cheek and then press a kiss against the corner of her mouth.

"Well," he said at last, warm breath caressing her cheek. "So that was a surprise."

"Mmm," she replied, not opening her eyes, just enjoying the warm tone she could hear in his voice and the weight of his body pressing her against the wall.

"Bet that stopped your hiccups," he murmured.

At that, her eyes did fly open to meet his, sparkling down at her. "Lee!" she couldn't help the peal of laughter that set him off as well, the two of them leaning together, her face buried in his chest, his in her hair.

When they finally caught their breath, the sound hit them at the same moment – the sound of running footsteps and loud voices close by, too close by for it to be a coincidence. Lee pushed himself straighter and shouldered open the door. "Hey Kid! I think the cavalry's coming!"

Seconds later, a group of agents led by Francine burst in the door, all of them bursting out into laughter at the sight of Lee and Amanda's predicament.

"I always knew you'd end up in a padded cell, Scarecrow," Francine guffawed. "But I thought Amanda would slow down the process, not end up there with you!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's hilarious," groused Lee good-naturedly. "Now can you get us loose please?"

"Only if I get to hear exactly how this happened," answered Francine, starting to work the buckles on Amanda's straitjacket. "We've been looking for you since last night when none of you showed up to identify Laszlo like you were supposed to."

"Well, first off, you gotta get somebody after the guys who put us in these in the first place."

"The two guys in the cheap jackets and the cheaper cologne?" asked Francine. "Yeah, Bela told us about them – that's how we finally found you – once we narrowed down which bar with a busted sign he meant."

Amanda and Lee exchanged a grin. "Hooray for the plucky sidekick," murmured Amanda.

"Anyway, we just picked them up in the parking lot, along with Price. What a bunch of idiots – it's like they don't even know there's nothing more suspicious than guys who drop everything and start to run the minute you show up with a badge."

"Well, they're just small-time crooks. It turns out that Price kidnapping Bela doesn't have anything to do with the coup – it was just a simple betting fix," explained Lee. "But Bela thought all their threats to throw the game were something to do with Laszlo and he was too frightened to tell us."

"Well now that we have Laszlo in custody as well as those guys outside, Bela is safe," Francine answered. "So your dreams of a glorious football career can fade away into the sunset again."

She finished freeing Amanda who stretched with a sigh of relief and began rubbing her arms trying to get the circulation back. As Francine began to get Lee loose, Amanda gave a small frown.

"But if we've caught the assassin and Price isn't involved in all that, then why was Mr. Crandall still insisting that Bela had to be there today?"

"Probably just to show off – the Prime Minister from Liechtenstein is a special guest at the practice today – and there's no point in him coming if Bela isn't there. Crandall still has a lot of money tied up there no matter who's in charge of the government – he'll be playing both sides of the fence," answered Francine.

"Wait – is that the VIP Leopold mentioned?" asked Lee, mind racing.

"Yes," she replied. "There you go," she added as she got the last buckle undone on Lee's straitjacket.

"Thanks," he said absently as he started to rub his arms to try and restore feeling to them. "I thought the Prime Minister wasn't coming until Tuesday?"

"Well, _officially_ he's not. He'll do the whole red carpet thing with the president on Tuesday but _unofficially_ , he came a few days early with his kids to see the sights – including seeing Bela play."

"Bela play…" repeated Lee. His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. "The play! That's what was bugging me! In that play, it leaves the kicker open to being tackled!"

"Why would you do that?" asked Amanda. "Once he's kicked the ball away, he's done."

"Not if he kept the ball to pass it for a time-maker," answered Lee, thinking hard.

"Oh right – like that guy in the Super Bowl a few years ago," agreed Amanda. "But why would they still do that play? We caught the assassin guy right? Why hurt Bela now?"

"It'd be a hell of a distraction if the star player of the day got badly hurt…" Francine reasoned out loud. "You could do a lot of things while everyone's looking a different direction."

There was a long silence while they all considered that.

"Like kill a Prime Minister," said Lee.

"We have to call Billy," said Francine, grabbing a phone and then tapping the plunger repeatedly. "Why is there no dial tone?" she complained.

Lee and Amanda exchanged another look.

"C'mon Kid, we have to get to the stadium – now," said Lee, heading for the door.


	5. Strong Safety Protocols

Lee drove the Agency sedan like a maniac, Amanda clutching her door and managing to keep her whimpers of fear down to a minimum.

"I thought you liked it when I drive fast," he quipped. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you – but I trust the Porsche a lot more than this old government-funded rusty bucket of bolts," she admitted, sneaking one eye open then closing it again with a faint groan.

"Don't worry – remember, it's Leatherneck that takes care of these babies," he reminded her.

"That does make me feel better," she squeaked. "But I still want this to be over."

"We're almost there," he said, turning into the stadium parking lot. "You find Bela and get him somewhere safe, while I find the Prime Minister and his kids. Got it?"

"Got it," she replied, scrambling to get her seatbelt undone.

They ran to the entrance, skidding to a stop to try and spot their targets. Lee shaded his eyes and scanned the bleachers but couldn't see anyone.

"Oh no, Lee!" Amanda clutched his arm. "The Prime Minister is on the sidelines!"

Lee looked where she was pointing and felt his heart seize up. The play was being set up directly in front of the dignitary and his children and if Big Phil got the angle just right to take out Bela in that busted play and sent him into the sidelines…

"Phil's going to use Bela to hit the Prime Minster and make it look like an accident," he exclaimed as he took off running.

He didn't think he was going to make it – he had to cover so much ground and Phil was already moving towards an unsuspecting Bela. Lee ignored the screaming pain in his knee and dug down to find an extra burst of speed, intercepting Phil and throwing his whole weight against the big player's stocky frame. It was like hitting a brick wall – Phil went down but so did Lee, the two of them bouncing off each other like crashing cars. Lee went backwards, Phil toppling over him and landing on top of him with a thud that had Amanda wincing as she ran toward them. Phil's helmet connected with Lee's forehead, sending his head snapping back against the turf.

To Amanda's relief, she could see Billy and a team of agents pouring into the stadium from another entrance; one team raced to bundle the politician and his children off to safety, while another ran to grab Crandall who was screaming at the field in frustration. As yet another group of agents tackled Phil again, who had stood up and was looking around in confusion at this turn of events, Amanda dropped to her knees beside Lee who hadn't moved.

"Lee? Lee, wake up, please wake up," she found herself saying for the second time that day as she ran her fingertips over his scalp, feeling for injuries.

"That was a hell of a hard hit," said Billy, kneeling down on his other side. He stood up and turned to the sidelines. "Get me a doctor or a medic out here, right now!" he bellowed.

"I think he's coming around," said Amanda hopefully. "Lee? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," he groaned. "What happened?" He blinked up at her in confusion and struggled to sit up.

"You got knocked out when you tackled Phil to save Bela," she explained, trying to hold him down. "Now you just stay still until the doctor gets here."

"Oh no, no Ma'am – no doctors," he said, fighting harder to get up.

"Oh yes doctor," said Billy firmly. "Now don't move until you get checked out."

Lee's eyes rolled around trying to see past them for a way to escape. "No, if the old man thinks I got hurt again, he won't let me play."

"What?" asked Amanda, looking up at Billy in confusion. "What old man?"

"My uncle," said Lee in cross tones. "You didn't already tell him I got hit, did you? I know he isn't here since he never comes to watch me play."

"Lee," said Billy gently. "What year is it?"

"Oh, you can quit it with all the stupid questions," said Lee immediately. "I'm fine!"

"Oh Lee," said Amanda, running her hand over his head again. "You're really not."

"Quit that!" Lee batted her hand away. "I said I was fine and I am!"

"Son?" Billy continued. "Do you know who we are?"

Lee stopped trying to get up and looked from one to the other, frowning slightly. "Yes," he said, slowly. "You're… you're… ugh! I know I know you! I just can't think of your names!" he burst out, obviously frustrated.

Billy looked up at Amanda with a wry grimace. "He had his bell rung pretty hard. I think he's just a bit disoriented, but he's definitely going to the hospital."

"No – no doctors, no hospital," protested Lee. "Don't tell Uncle Bob. I just wanna go ho-" His eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped backwards, Amanda catching him before his head hit the ground again.

"Lee!"

A paramedic dropped down beside Amanda and gently moved her hands from where they were gripping Lee. "He'll be fine, Ma'am. You just let us get in here."

"Come on, Amanda." Billy helped her to her feet. "Let them do their work."

Amanda lifted her head and looked around. The field was swarming with people now, Crandall and Phil were in handcuffs and Bela was gesticulating wildly as he obviously explained something to an agent. "Everyone's safe?" she asked. "We got here in time?"

"Yes, everyone's safe," answered Billy. "Well, almost everyone." They both looked back at Lee who had been lifted onto a stretcher and was being wheeled toward the ambulance. "Come on, Amanda, I'll give you a lift to the hospital."

* * *

"Amanda."

She lifted her head from where she'd been dozing beside Lee's hospital bed and met worried hazel eyes. Lee was holding out a hand, but wasn't quite able to reach her.

"Oh Lee, oh my gosh, you're awake!" She leapt up and sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping her hands around his outstretched one.

"Amanda, what am I doing here? Why am I in a hospital? What happened? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" He was brushing his free hand along her arm, looking for injuries.

"Lee, calm down. It's fine, I'm fine! You just got a little bump on the head." She reached out to brush her fingers over the goose egg on his temple left by Phil's helmet. "Well, maybe a couple of bumps, I guess. But you're awake now and you remember me! Thank goodness! I was so worried about you!"

"Remember you?" he asked. "Of course I remember you! Wait - did I forget you?"

"Only for a minute – that hit to your head kinda knocked the sense out of you for a bit, but you're awake again, thank goodness, and you remember so-"

"I hit my head?"

"When you tackled Phil at the field." Her brows drew together at the look of confusion on his face. "Lee? What's the last thing you remember?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it again with a frown. He tried again. "There were sirens and lights. And you… you were in a car with someone… with Pravik…" he paused and concentrated. "There were two guys – I was trying to stop them."

Amanda nodded. "Yes, that's right, go on."

Lee tried again then shook his head. "I can't remember anything after that." He looked her over. "Did I stop them?"

"Of course you did," she laughed. "At least, you jumped on the hood and told them to stop the car."

"And after that?"

"You really don't remember?"

"No," he shook his head in frustration.

Amanda reached over and pressed the call button. "It's okay – the doctor said you might have some trouble with your memory."

"But why can't I remember?"

"You got hit in the head twice in under 24 hours," she smiled with sympathy and squeezed his hand. "I'm sure you're just a bit scrambled – and at least you know who I am this time."

"This time?" Lee didn't like the sounds of that.

"The first time, you didn't know me. And you were frantic that we not tell your uncle and get you into trouble," she said lightly. "Apparently 16-year-old Lee was just as bad a patient as the current one."

Lee wiped a hand over his face and stared at the ceiling. "I forgot you."

"Don't feel bad – you didn't know Billy either." He turned his head to look at her again, eyes wide, and she paused, filled with doubt. "You remember him now though, right?"

"Of course I do," said Lee. "I just can't believe I could have been that out of it."

"Well, you know what concussions are like," Amanda replied. "You'll be back to your old self in no time."

"And in the meantime, we're in another hospital," groused Lee.

"Well, it was your turn," teased Amanda. "And at least we don't have to worry about trying to avoid my mother this time."

"Always the bright side, hey Kid?"

The door swung open and a doctor swept in, followed by Billy. "Well, Mr. Stetson, good to see you awake. How are you feeling? We were just about to bring you around, but it's a good sign that you came out of it on your own."

"Out of it? How long have I been out?" Lee struggled to sit up.

"Just a couple of hours," Amanda raced to calm him. "You missed all the fun - the x-rays, the exam, the sponge bath…"

"I missed a sponge bath?"

Amanda turned to Billy and smiled. "There you go – he's fine."

Billy let out a bark of laughter. "Good thing he has that hard head of his. Now, Scarecrow – how are you feeling really?"

"I'm fine – just a headache," answered Lee. "I just…"

"He can't remember the last day," murmured Amanda. "Not just yet anyway."

Billy looked at Lee incredulously. "The whole last day? None of it?"

"I can remember chasing that cab and after that, nothing." Lee spread his hands in frustration.

"That was the first time he hit his head," Amanda pointed out. She barely contained the shudder at the memory of Lee flying off the car and the sound of his head cracking against the curb. "Although he didn't lose any memory after that one," she added.

The doctor, who'd been checking Lee's pupils and examining the bumps on his head, stepped back and scratched his chin. "Well, that's not so surprising. The second injury coming so close after the first one would have had a greater impact, so to speak, and with concussions it is usually the most recent memories that go."

"Go?" fretted Lee. "Will I get them back?"

"Probably," replied the doctor, making notes on his chart.

"Probably?" repeated Lee, his voice rising. "I can't just have lost a day!"

"Lee, it's fine," soothed Billy. "The doctor's right – your memory will probably come back, and in the meantime, Amanda can tell us everything we need for the case. She was with you the whole time."

"She was?"

"Of course, I was," said Amanda. "I'm back to being a good sidekick."

"Sidekick?"

Her smile faltered as she realized Lee had forgotten that conversation. _And everything else that had happened in Price's office._

"Just a joke," she said, weakly.

"Well, Mr. Stetson, outside of the memory loss, you're fine – if you were any other patient, I'd discharge you," said the doctor.

"Great. Then I'm out of here," said Lee, tossing back the bedclothes.

"But I can't," finished the doctor. "Mr. Melrose here says you live alone – and I can't send you home without someone to check on you through the night. You've had concussions before – you know the drill."

"Oh no. You are not keeping me in here," said Lee. "Not in this hell-hole of noise and lights and scratchy sheets and nurses bugging you all night and not in the good way!"

"Scarecrow, you know the rules," said Billy. "You can go home tomorrow."

"I didn't have to stay in here last time!" fired back Lee. "I went home and I was fine. Just because I can't remember a few little things, you…"

"Last time you had a partner who agreed to keep an eye on you," Billy reminded him. "And this time you don't," he added pointedly.

Lee's mouth snapped shut and his lips thinned.

"Just one night," Billy continued. "And two days off work."

"I don't need two days off!" Lee complained. "I need to get out of here!"

"I'll look after him."

All three men turned to look at Amanda who was now standing beside the bed, blushing slightly.

"I mean, if that's all he needs, to have someone around to keep an eye on him, and it would get him out of here…" She waved around the sterile room. "I can do that."

"No you can't. What about your family?" asked Lee, obviously torn by the offer. "Your mother will want to know where you are."

"Oh I'll just tell Mother the truth," said Amanda. "Or most of it – sick friend needs a hand, that sort of thing." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to have to explain where I've been since last night anyway."

"You haven't been home since last night?"

"No – we were stuck in Price's office all night."

"Price has an office? For what? Assassins Are Us?"

Amanda began to laugh, realizing that was another chunk of memory Lee was missing. "He's not an assassin," began Amanda. "He's a bookie."

"A bookie? That what? Takes bets on assassinations?"

"No," Amanda shook her head. "Just a regular- You know what? Never mind – it's too much to explain right now. I'll tell you all about it later, when you're feeling better. "

"I feel fine now!" complained Lee. "And I don't need a babysitter! I just need-"

"You need to rest and not get yourself worked up," said the doctor in acid tones. "And if I were you and my partner was offering me a way out, I'd take it."

"She's not my-" Lee started to grumble, but stopped at Billy's raised brow. "Fine – if it will get me out of here."

"Are you sure about this, Amanda?" Billy inquired with a sigh. "You know better than anyone what he's like."

"It'll be fine, Sir," she confirmed.

"Good," said Lee, pushing himself up off the bed and standing up. "That's settled. Let's go."

Well, first I think-" Amanda began, turning away and opening the small locker beside the bed.

"No, let's go now. Before Doc here changes his mind," Lee wheedled.

"You should get dressed," finished Amanda as if he hadn't interrupted, and held out a neat pile of clothing.

Lee looked down at the hospital gown he was wearing, as Billy choked back a snort of laughter. "Oh. Right."

"I'll just go wait in the hall," teased Amanda. "If you think you can manage it alone?"

Lee looked up at her with a crooked smile. "I'll manage."

"Then I'll be outside when you're ready to go home."


	6. Sleeper Agent

"This is ridiculous," complained Lee, sitting at his kitchen table, waving a slice of pizza around. They'd ordered in when it became apparent that after a week in training camp, absolutely nothing in Lee's fridge was still edible. "I don't need you to watch me like a child."

"Yes, you do," said Amanda, firmly. "You heard the doctor. You can only nap for short periods and I need to wake you up every hour and make sure you're still with it."

"It's ridiculous – you could just call from home," he pointed out.

"And then have to explain to my mother why I'm waking up all night to make mysterious phone calls?"

"You could tell her the truth, like you said," he fired back. "That you're checking on a friend with a concussion."

"She'd know perfectly well that if that were true – which it is – then I would be keeping an eye on them in person and making sure nothing happened to them – which I am. So you can just stop complaining because I'm not leaving."

Lee sighed in resignation. "Fine. Well then, at least tell me everything that happened since last night."

Amanda began to fill him in, about how the goons had stopped the cab just long enough to throw him in the trunk, how despite that, Price had turned out to be relatively harmless, how Bela had sent help for them and finally, how he'd injured himself a second time saving the Prime Minister of Liechtenstein. Throughout the tale, she watched him carefully, hoping something would spark a memory, but there was no sign of it as he kept asking questions.

"So Phil really had no idea he was being set up? I know the guys called him Big Dumb Phil, but it's hard to believe anyone is _that_ dumb."

"He's not dumb," said Amanda. "I think he's had too many knocks to the head. Kinda like someone else I know," she added with a raised brow. "It's not great for decision making, apparently."

"Oh come on, I may have lost some of my short-term memory but you still couldn't get me to murder somebody," Lee replied, testily.

"Of course we couldn't," Amanda agreed. "Dr. Glaser already proved that, didn't he?" She smiled to let him know she was teasing. "But Phil doesn't seem like he was that bright to start with, and once they convinced him that the Prime Minister was plotting against America… Well, he thought he was saving the President or something – he was really confused when he got arrested. I feel kind of sorry for him, actually."

"Of course you do. So when Price had us locked up, did we even try to get away?" he asked. "Even with the straitjackets?"

"Of course we did," Amanda smiled. "You almost had us out there too when they came back for something. They almost caught us, but we were-". She stopped abruptly and took a large bite of pizza.

"We were what?" Lee asked, sensing she had been going to say something else.

Amanda chewed slowly and swallowed. "We were hiding in the closet and made them think we'd already escaped," she said. "Boy, this pizza's good. I was starving after not eating since last night."

Lee gazed at her, not sure what she could be hiding about a simple escape attempt, unless… she'd done something she was embarrassed to admit. _That must be it_ , he decided. _But we got away so it can't have mattered_.

It wasn't until they'd cleared the dishes and he was getting ready to go to bed that he realized she was setting herself up to sit up in the living room all night.

"You're kidding, right? This is not what they meant when they said to keep an eye on me."

Amanda looked up, surprised. "No, I told Mr. Melrose I'd wake you every hour or so, and the best way to do that is to just stay up. I have a book and a pot of coffee. It'll be fine."

"Amanda, take the bed at least. I can crash out here."

"Lee, you're supposed to be recovering. You can't do that without at least getting a little sleep."

"I can't just leave you sitting here," he fretted. "You need your sleep too."

"Lee, just go to sleep for a bit. You need the rest – and I'll be fine. If I get too tired, I'll just grab a nap on the couch and set the oven timer to wake myself up to check on you." He opened his mouth to protest and she cut him off. "Just go lie down. Please? For my peace of mind?"

"I hate it when you pull that card," he groused. "It's not fair."

"That's what moms do – we use your kryptonite against you," she smiled up at him from where she'd curled up in the arm chair.

"Moms and partners," he agreed. "Eric was just as bad."

"But I'm not your partner," she teased him.

"Or my mom," he countered.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a split second and then they both spoke at once.

"I should get some sleep."

"You should get some sleep."

Lee gave her a look like he was going to say more before turning abruptly and disappearing into the bedroom, then reappearing with a pillow and blanket.

"Lee, I told you…" she began to reprimand him.

"I can sleep out here just as well as in there," he said, cutting her off. "And besides my head still hurts too much for me to sleep anyway, even with the painkiller. I'll just watch TV or something."

"No, you won't," she scolded. "That will just keep you awake."

"Well then…" he looked around the apartment.

"Oh for heaven's sake - just lie down and close your eyes," ordered Amanda.

"Amanda!"

"Lee!"

They glared at each other in a standoff until Lee finally flopped down on the sofa and wrapped the blanket around himself.

"What are you reading?" he asked sulkily.

Amanda held up the paperback. "One of your spy books."

Lee squinted across at her. "The Ipcress File? Yeah, that's a good one. I remember reading it the summer I was 13."

"Is that what made you want to be a spy? All the danger and intrigue?"

"No," Lee answered, closing his eyes. "I read it because I wanted to be a spy like my dad."

"Your dad was a spy?" Amanda couldn't help asking.

"Yeah, during the war," said Lee. "My uncle always said he couldn't resist the lure of being the Lone Ranger."

"You mentioned your uncle today," Amanda ventured. "When you were at the football field, you were worried he'd be mad at you for getting hurt."

"That figures," said Lee, rolling onto his side and opening his eyes to look at her. "I spent most of my childhood with him being mad at me over something or other."

"He brought you up?" Lee talked so little about his past that Amanda wasn't sure he'd answer her.

"Yeah, after my parents died."

"I'm sorry."

Lee waved off her sympathy. "It was a long time ago. I was five – I don't remember them."

"Oh Lee, that's awful."

Lee shrugged under his blanket. "Like I said, it was a long time ago." He gave her a questioning look. "You didn't know that?"

"You don't talk about yourself much," she replied. "I mean you've dropped a few things, but I don't like to pry."

Lee's mind flashed back to their conversation a few weeks before about his late partner, Eric.

" _I guess everyone thought I must already know all about it because we spend so much time together",_ she'd said and here they were again, Amanda putting aside her own problems and looking after him without any expectation that he'd share any part of his life with her. He felt a rush of shame for every time he'd taken her friendship for granted – he owed her so much more than that.

"How are you ever going to train up to be my partner if you don't like to pry?" he teased.

"Well, I'm not, I guess," she answered looking surprised. "I mean, I help you out from time to time…"

"You do more than that," he interrupted. "You're someone I can count on in a business that doesn't allow for that much. You're smart and quick and…"

 _Beautiful_ , his mind supplied along with a flash image of Amanda looking up at him, flushed cheeks and eyes dark with emotion. _Where the hell did that come from?_

He realized Amanda was looking at him to finish that sentence. "And you should look into some of the civilian training the Agency offers. Billy's obviously keen on using you more – you should make sure you take advantage of that and ask to take them – driving courses, codes, that kind of stuff."

"Really? You think I could?" she asked, sitting up with an interested expression.

"That's what they're designed for – you're not the first civilian we've recruited, you know."

"I… I don't know what to say," stammered Amanda. "I mean I'd love to but…"

"But nothing," Lee stopped her. "I'll talk to Billy about it." He paused and came to a decision. "In fact, tell you what – we can start tonight."

"What do you mean?" Amanda was startled. "You're supposed to be resting!"

"I can rest while we're doing it. We'll play Twenty Questions," he answered. "You have to wake me up every hour or so and make sure I'm with it, right? Okay, so every time, you ask me three questions about myself, two about the past, one about the present, and give me a report on it in the morning – how does that sound?"

"Intriguing," she admitted. She tilted her head and bit her lip thoughtfully. "I can ask you anything?"

"Sure," he said. "Within reason," he added quickly. "I reserve the right to plead the Fifth."

"That's fair," she nodded. "But I get another question if you do."

"Deal." He grinned sleepily at her. "And next time, I get to do the same."

"Deal," she smiled back at him.

* * *

And so it went through the night.

" _Name three places you've lived outside Washington." "Cherbourg, Guam, Milan."_

" _What's your favorite food?" "Chili dogs"_

" _What year is it?" "1983"_

 _._

" _When did you join the Agency?" "1973"_

" _Where did you go to college?" "Michigan"_

" _What's your doorman's name?" "Feller"_

 _._

" _Why did you live in so many places?" "My uncle was in the Air Force, we didn't get a choice."_

" _Did you like that?" "Not much"_

" _Where did we meet?" "Train station"_

 _._

" _Have you ever been married?" "You know I haven't"_

"Have _you ever come close?"_

"Fifth," he grunted after a pause.

Amanda looked up from where she'd been keeping her notes. "Really? Don't you think that sort of answers the question?"

"Not necessarily," he yawned, still half-asleep. He peered at the clock: 3:00 a.m. "But it pre-empts your next one," he went on. "It could be no, and you'll want to know why, and I won't answer that or it could be yes, and you'll want to know what happened, and I'm not going to tell you that either" He yawned again. "That's why you need to ask your questions carefully."

"Like a genie and the three wishes," she commented.

"Exactly," he slurred, most of the way back asleep.

"But I get another question then – since you wouldn't answer that one."

"Yeah, ok, but remember, in real life, you won't get a second chance."

Amanda nodded. She chewed her lip and tapped her pen against the pad while she thought. "Okay, have you ever told a girlfriend what you really do?"

Lee opened one eye and huffed out a laugh. "Better."

"Are you going to answer?"

He closed his eyes and for a moment, she thought he was going to ignore her and go back to sleep, but then he suddenly spoke again. "Yes. Once."

Lee braced himself, waiting for the inevitable consequence of answering truthfully. _This,_ he thought, _might have been a bad idea._ The silence stretched out and then:

"What's your favorite way to cure hiccups?"

Even half-asleep, Lee had to chuckle. "Ice cube down the back."

There was a long silence and then a quiet sigh, "Okay, you can go back to sleep."

* * *

Lee woke on his own, not sure why. He didn't move while he did a mental inventory, and decided that his head was no longer pounding as much as it had last night. His shoulder was painfully stiff though, and he ran through all the possible reasons why. It might have something to do with the fact he'd spent the previous night in a straitjacket. Or spent the last few days being tackled by behemoths. Or because he was sleeping on the couch.

 _Why am I sleeping on the couch? And what is that damn noise?_

He opened his eyes and squinted around the dim light of the apartment, slowly realizing that he was hearing the faint peeping of the oven timer Amanda had set to make sure she woke him up every hour. He twisted to look for her and realized she was sound asleep.

Lee sat up and swung his legs off the couch, and went to turn off the timer. 5:15 announced the oven clock. It had been 3:00 when she'd last woken him so she hadn't just slept through the 5:00 alarm – this had to be the 4:00 one. He walked back into the living room, but Amanda still hadn't stirred, despite looking incredibly uncomfortable, curled tightly in the chair and her head falling to one side at an unnatural angle. He felt a pang of guilt – she'd been along for this crazy ride for as many hours as he had, and with probably less sleep, if you counted the hours he'd been knocked out. Knocked out twice, he reminded himself. He wondered how often she'd done this with her kids, stayed awake and alert to keep watch over someone. She hadn't even stopped to consider before she'd made the offer to stay with him – just as she hadn't stopped to think when she'd saved him from those guys on the train platform all those months ago – wading into battle with nothing more than her purse and righteous indignation.

He sat down on the coffee table in front of her, smiling fondly at her as he recalled all the times since then that she'd done something similar. He didn't think he'd ever met anyone in his life who was as unthinkingly brave as Amanda. He noticed she was still clutching her pen and paper from making notes on her questions all night so he reached out to gently pry them from her fingers and glanced down to see what she'd written. His lips pursed in a soundless whistle; there was some solid Class C stuff here and the notes she'd added to his answers were pretty damn insightful too.

 _I should let her finish this when she wakes up._

He was startled that he'd even thought that. He'd always kept his personal life close to the chest, even before he'd landed in this career – too many new schools, too many friends left behind – he'd learned early that it was best to just keep it to himself.

He studied the list again. She'd obviously brainstormed a lot of ideas in the first few hours when he'd been sleeping, but he was intrigued to see that there were some she'd crossed out. He moved closer to the one light that was still on so he could make them out; it wasn't easy because she's crossed them out with several strokes as if trying to erase them even from her thoughts. Lee, however, had been an agent for too long to be defeated by such basic tactics and held them to the light at an angle so that they were slightly backlit.

 _How did your parents die?_

 _What do you remember about them?_

 _Why come you never talk about them?_

Definitely questions he would have hated answering. Like a truffle hound, she'd known unerringly what questions to ask to get to the heart of him – and had then chosen not to. Despite the fact she could completely have taken advantage of him being half out of it to do so, despite having been given carte blanche to ask what she liked, she had unerringly known what _not_ to ask.

He frowned at the paper, looking further down the page to see what she _had_ left on the list. Two columns, past and present, most of them the simple things he'd have been able to answer easily as part of a concussion check, but as the list went on, she'd obviously started to ponder the bigger questions.

 _Where were you the happiest in your life?_

 _How did you get partnered with Eric?_

 _How did he manage being an agent with having a family?_

Off to the side of the page, away from the rest as if it wasn't intended to be asked, more just a sidetrack she'd been on.

 _Have you ever had a best friend?_

 _What's the difference between a partner and a friend?_

Lee stopped dead and re-read those last ones. If anyone had asked him that six months ago, he probably would have answered that without thinking.

 _No, no friends – this isn't a business for that._

He and Eric had worked well together, it was true - they had trusted each other at a level beyond the usual pairing of agents, but Lee had carefully held himself apart from the other part of Eric's life – never accepting the invitations to weekend barbecues or family occasions or any of the other things people were supposed to do with friends. He hadn't been rude, just aloof, unwilling to make the connection to a partner again the way he had with Dorothy. So he and Eric had been friendly but not friends - he'd made sure of that. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

He let his hand drop, paper still clutched in it and turned to stare at Amanda again.

 _What's the difference between a partner and a friend?_

How had she blurred that line so thoroughly that, by the time he sat up and took notice, it was already gone? She'd been his friend from that first day, protecting him as fiercely from Russian agents and gun runners as from his own self-doubt about his part in Eric's death. Never intruding, never inquisitive – just there, with unconditional support.

But when, along the way, had she become the one person he turned to without thinking for help? How was it possible that the one person he trusted at his back was an untrained, often naïve suburban mom armed with nothing more than a quirky intuitive way of looking at things and unquestioning faith in him? It should be a recipe for disaster and yet…

 _What's the difference between a partner and a friend?_

 _Nothing._

He walked back and perched on the coffee table again, carefully tucking the pad down the side of her chair cushion so that she wouldn't know he'd peeked, before reaching out to gently rub Amanda's arm.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up."

"Mo-ther," Amanda grumbled in her sleep.

"Amanda," he cajoled. "Wake up."

She came to slowly, blinking sleepily at him for a beat and then sitting up quickly, wincing as she discovered the crick in her neck. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lee chuckled. "You slept through the alarm you set."

"What?" She looked at her watch, eyes widening in shock. "Oh Lee, I should have woken you over an hour ago!"

"Well, no harm, no foul," he grinned. "Maybe we both just needed the extra sleep, hey?"

"You're feeling better?" she questioned. "How's your head? Is your memory back?"

"I'm feeling much better," he answered. "But no, still no magical memory restoration. In fact, I only woke you up so you could move to somewhere more comfortable."

Amanda rolled her head in a circle with a slight grimace. "Yeah, I might regret this later." She gave another stretch. "So you're going to go to bed properly and leave me the couch now? That would be more comfortable for both of us honestly."

"No, I'm going to send you to the bedroom to get a couple of more hours of sleep while I go out and grab us some breakfast from the all-night diner."

"You don't eat breakfast," she pointed out, barely containing her yawn. "Or did you forget that too?" she teased him.

"I don't but you do, and right now I don't even have cream for coffee in the fridge, let alone food. I may not even have coffee," he winced. "Anyway, you go lie down in my room and get some more sleep and I'll go get some fresh air and bring us back something."

"Oh, that's okay, Lee – I'll just take the couch."

"Now who's being ridiculous?" he asked. "Why would you put a perfectly good bed to waste?"

"I couldn't-" she began to argue.

"Amanda," he said in good-natured exasperation. "I don't know where your mind is going right now, but I promise this is not some weird seduction technique – come on, you know that." He paused, concerned. "Don't you?"

"Of course I do!" she answered instantly. "You would never take advantage, not even after-"

And then she stopped and a look flickered across her face that Lee couldn't place – it wasn't fear or indignation or disappointment – it was just the ghost of a smile as if she'd thought of something, although what that something was, he couldn't imagine.

"What?" he asked, all suspicion now.

"Nothing," she said, getting to her feet. "You would never take advantage, that's all. But I am going to take advantage of your offer and get some more sleep before I have to go home and face my mother with the usual collection of half-truths and outright lies." She gathered up the blanket he'd left on the couch and headed for the bedroom.

Lee watched her go, still feeling uneasy about that flicker of expression.

 _Not even after… what?_


	7. A Few of my Favorite Things

The debrief meeting on the whole thing was just about to start. The case had ended up having so many twists and turns that Billy had decreed that everyone meet up for a brainstorming session to compare notes after doing their reports so that they could be sure all the loose ends had been tied up.

Bela had been brought in for one last witness statement since he'd been at the center of all of those strands and had bounced up out of his chair to greet Amanda with barely controlled glee.

"Ah-man-dah! Did you hear? Mr. Crandall is going to jail and I am going to Denver to play with Broncos!"

"Well, I hear it's lovely there – I'm sure you'll love it," she'd smiled at his puppy-like enthusiasm.

"I will be close to mountains, like back home!" he exclaimed. "Your Blue Ridge – it is very pretty, but it is not really mountains, you know?" He leaned forward and grabbed her by the upper arms. "So I am safe from Laszlo and I am off to new part of America and it is all because of everything you did to save me!"

He pulled her forward abruptly, dropping an enthusiastic kiss on each cheek and then, to her surprise, a third long one, right on her lips, before pulling back "We never did get to go try the bowling," he said looking up into her eyes, "But maybe you would like to come visit me in Denver? We could go on ski date instead. I am very good skier since I was tiny baby. Mountains, you know." He made a swooshing motion with his hand.

Amanda was still in shock from the unexpected kiss, and realized that Lee had just walked around the corner in time to catch it as it happened and was staring at them, slack-jawed. Then his eyes had narrowed and he began pacing toward Bela with a glint in his eye that didn't bode well. She stepped back carefully and peeled Bela's other hand from where he was still holding her arm. "Well, that's very sweet of you, Bela, but I don't think so – I have a family here and a job that keeps me very busy and you know… you should probably find a nice local girl out there that you can see as much as you like."

"You might be right – and I cannot ask you to neglect your family. Family is very important. Especially your very old mother." Bela looked momentarily disappointed, but then was immediately distracted as he noticed Lee arriving. "San-day! No, I mean Mr. Stetson! My other hero! It is so good to see you happy and healthy once more!"

To Lee's obvious horror, Bela immediately seized him too, pulling him in for a hug and then grabbed his shoulders dragging him down for an identical set of cheek kisses. Amanda watched with outright glee as Lee scrambled backward in case that third kiss turned out to be some kind of Liechtenstein tradition.

"Ah, hi Bela," he stammered. "It's good to see you too. I hear you're heading west."

"Yes, yes!" Bela nodded. "I was just asking Amanda if she would like to come visit for ski trip."

"Were you now?" Lee gave her a sideways look while Amanda schooled her expression to one of complete innocence.

"But she is too busy," went on Bela. "She says I need to find nice girl in Denver."

"That would probably be for the best," Lee agreed. "The President would be very upset if you stole one of his spies away."

Bela nodded vehemently. "Of course! You are right! I will find nice girl who is not spy. Much safer, yes?"

"Oh yes," chorused Lee and Amanda.

Francine materialized at their side. "Are you ready to go, Mr. Pravik? We have your ride to the airport waiting upstairs."

Bela nodded, then turned to hug them both again. "Thank you my friends. It was a pleasure doing the spy business with you" He turned to Francine. "Okay-dokay, I am ready to go." As he fell into step beside her, Lee and Amanda could hear his voice floating back. "Do you like to ski, Miss Desmond?"

"Why yes I do, Mr. Pravik."

"Because you know, I am going to live in Denver in Co-lo-ra-do. It is near mountains and you could come see…"

As his voice faded away, they turned to each other with identical grins.

"Poor Denver - it has no idea what's about to hit it," said Lee.

"None at all," Amanda agreed. She reached up to straighten his tie which Bela had knocked askew with his enthusiastic embrace. "How are you?" she asked, smoothing his lapels and studying him carefully. "Feeling better?"

Lee shrugged as they turned to make their way into the meeting room. "Same old, same old. I still can't remember anything except for bits and pieces from Saturday."

"Well, it'll come back or it won't – don't try and force it."

Amanda sat down at the table and Lee sat down opposite her, watching as she began glancing over the little notes she'd made in her notebook when she was still pretending to be a reporter, checking to see if she'd missed anything in there that might have any pertinence to the way the case had played out.

Since Lee's memory was still so sketchy, she'd been the one to write the formal report for Billy, covering the time from when Price's men had captured them until Lee's tackle had brought down the unwitting assassin. She felt no small satisfaction that Billy had praised that report; up until now Lee had done them all for anything she'd been involved in and she'd only helped type them, occasionally correcting or helping him amend something she'd remembered, but this one had been all hers, even if it was only for a small portion of everything that had happened. She might not be an agent, but that small task had made her feel like one, and not just "Lee's Little Helper". Her lips quirked up at the memory of that praise from Lee and his suggestion that she get more formal training. Maybe she could really do this.

Lee, for his part, was less relaxed. He was leaning back, gazing absently at Amanda, poking around mentally trying to get his brain to regurgitate those missing hours. The doctors had told him that once the concussion wore off, the memories would most likely return but it had been two days now and it was bugging him that he still couldn't summon them up. He'd read Amanda's report, and the tiny flashes of memory he was getting definitely lined up with that, but he just had a feeling there was something he was missing, something that wasn't in the report, something Amanda had left out. _That can't be right_ , he thought. _Even if she'd done something embarrassing, she wouldn't leave it out; Amanda is the most details-oriented partner I've ever had._ He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as he thought about her in that role. He'd sworn never to have another partner, but she'd wormed her way in, and although he'd encouraged her, now, as he continued to deal with an injury he couldn't shake, he was beginning to have second thoughts about the danger she could be in. There was something about this case, something that he couldn't put his finger on, something that was making him feel more protective than usual – and he didn't think it was Bela's clumsy dating techniques.

He got stuck on the thought and as he did so, Amanda leaned forward to scribble something down, then lightly lick her lips. He found himself staring at her mouth, as he tried to pin down his buzzing thoughts. Amanda glanced up and caught him watching her. Her eyes crinkled as she gave him a soft smile before returning to her perusal of her notes. Something in the open affection of her smile had his brain sparking furiously, trying to fix on something that was so tantalizingly close he could almost taste it, but again it skittered just out of reach of his mental fingertips.

"Ugh!" Francine had returned from walking Bela out and had flopped down in the chair beside him, further distracting him. "I ate something spicy at lunch and now I can't get rid of these stupid hiccups!"

Lee snorted with laughter, and looked across at Amanda who had lifted her head at Francine's pronouncement to laugh as well.

"Oh Lee's got a foolproof method of dealing with those," she teased. "Don't you, Lee?"

"I do?" His brows knit together as he tried to think which one she meant.

"Oh yeah – how could you forget?" He could tell she was laughing at him – her eyes had that expression of conspiratorial glee that always made him grin in return and her lips had pressed together in that way she did when she was pretending to be serious.

 _Lips, laughing, eyes…_ _Not even after we…_

 _Oh my God._ He sat bolt upright, seeing her eyes widen and her mouth drop open as she realized he'd remembered. He couldn't help grinning as she blushed scarlet and immediately dropped her head to look down at her notes.

 _Bet that stopped your hiccups._

"How could I forget?" he repeated.

"So what is it?" asked Francine, bringing his attention back to her. "Your foolproof method?"

"Well, uh, I have a few… Maybe my partner would like to tell us her favorite?" he teased her with a challenging look.

At the head of the table, Billy perked up and leaned forward to catch the rest of the conversation.

Amanda lifted her head and met his dancing eyes, blushing again as his grin broadened, then letting her own shy smile emerge. "Oh you know, I couldn't possibly say which one was my _favorite_ ," she replied in an innocent tone as she pushed her glass of ice water toward him and an unsuspecting Francine. "Why don't you surprise me?"


End file.
